Host country Monaco Dates run January 19 – 23 2010 | Rally base Monte Carlo Stage surface Tarmac and Ice | |
Overall winner Mikko Hirvonen
M-Sport Ltd. Crews 63 at start, 36 at finish | ||
The 2010 Monte-Carlo Rally, officially 78ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo, was the first round of the 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) season. The rally took place over January 19–23, 2010.
Contents
Introduction
The rally started in Valence on Tuesday 19 January covering 1,668 km (1,036 mi) including 405 km (252 mi) on fifteen special stages. New to the IRC Championship, a 9 km (5.6 mi) prologue was held on Tuesday evening to determine the starting order for Wednesday's stages. Stages were run both during the day and at night and included the famous Col de Turini.
Entrants for the event included the current IRC Champion Kris Meeke who was seeded at number 1, Formula One driver Robert Kubica, WRC stars Mikko Hirvonen and Toni Gardemeister and Rally Scotland winner Guy Wilks. The event saw the debut of the Ford Fiesta S2000 rally car. A total of 63 crews entered the rally including nineteen S2000 cars.
Results
Finn Mikko Hirvonen driving the Ford Fiesta in competition for the first time and making his debut in the IRC, led the event from start to finish.